What first inspired your interest in genealogy and family history, and how did that evolve into advocacy work?
My interest in genealogy was sparked around 1997 as a teenager. I was aware that my grandmother, who was born in Germany, had cousins in not just the United States, but also in Argentina, England, France, South Africa, and Israel. A family reunion of some of these cousins also resulted in a family tree that helped me get started.
My maternal grandparents immigrated to New York in 1938 and 1940, while my paternal ancestors arrived around 1900, which means that my U.S. research has focused on 20th-century records in New York. These are exactly the record types that are subject to a wide variety of access conditions, such as still being with the originating agency or privacy-based restrictions.
My first public comment on access to governmental records was the 2006 proposal that established the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) genealogy program, which removed historical immigration records from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) access and imposed additional fees.
I was additionally galvanized in 2017 by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's implementation of the model vital records act restricting public access to birth records for 125 years and death records for 75 years.
What does advocacy in records preservation and access mean to you personally?
Advocacy and access are both essential components of ensuring that the stories of the generations alive today and the ones that immediately preceded us can be told now and in the future. The records that we have today in archives and agencies at the federal, state, and local levels are there because an archivist or other governmental employee decided that the information contained within the records had lasting historical value and that these records are important in helping all of us to understand our individual and collective histories. It's not enough to make sure that records physically exist—they also have to be available to the people who need them to tell our stories.
It's important for us to campaign for access and to be vigilant about proposed record retention schedules. So many of us have had the experience of finding out that records we would love to have were destroyed, and so I find it extremely important to do what we can to make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes with the records of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Can you share a defining moment when you realized the importance of protecting or improving access to historical records?
Both of my maternal grandparents were immigrants to the United States and refugees from the Nazis. In an effort to understand their journeys and those of their relatives, I sought out U.S. Department of State visa case file records, only to learn that while there were many individual visa case files from the 1920s and 1930s, records after February 1940 no longer existed. Despite this being the era when many Jewish refugees were trying to flee Europe, a decision was made along the way that these visa case files were not worthy of permanent preservation.
This helped crystallize the realization that in order to have access to the historical records we want in the future, we need to make sure that the people in power in government agencies and archives understand their historical value today.
What specific issue, effort, or record/archival collection have you been most passionate about advocating for, and why?
Fitting with the theme of immigrant ancestors, I've been most passionate about the records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), today the USCIS. While INS passenger manifests were transferred decades ago to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), many other record sets remain at USCIS. The documents it holds for 20th-century and later immigrants contain both clues to immigrant origins and insights into naturalized citizens’ early years in the United States.
These records are mostly part of the Genealogy Program at USCIS, which was the subject of proposed massive fee increases in 2019 and 2023. I was involved in the campaigns to get the genealogy community to comment against the proposed fee increases, which was successful both times.
Additionally, many of these records should be at NARA, rather than still at the USCIS, and are overdue for transfer, primarily because of USCIS's inability to provide indexes for NARA to service the records.
What challenges or barriers have you faced in your advocacy work, and how have you worked to overcome them?
One significant challenge is that record issues can pop up at any government jurisdiction level, be it federal, state, county, or more local. While some jurisdictions have record issues more frequently than others, this still leaves hundreds or thousands of jurisdictions to monitor. This of course cannot be done by just a few people. Luckily there are many knowledgeable genealogists and historians who sound the alarm when something concerning is proposed.
However, there's always the fear that something will be missed and only become known once the policy is already in place. Key internet notice websites can be monitored automatically. Large industries frequently have a team of lobbyists at the federal and state levels that monitor changes; however, the genealogy community frequently lacks the financial resources to use such tools, so advocacy happens at a more grassroots level.
Tell us about a key success or “win” that has had a meaningful impact on records preservation or access?
Although it was just preserving the status quo, the defeat of Part U in the New York State 2026 budget—which would have seen birth records inaccessible for 125 years, marriage records for 100 years and death records for 75 years—was a key win. The genealogy community came together over a very short window of time to form a collectively loud voice. It was heartening to see the New York State legislature respond to genealogists' concerns. The effort also started conversations that will hopefully bear fruit in terms of opening up access to New York State vital records over the long term.
How do collaboration and community partnerships play a role in advancing your advocacy efforts?
While a single voice can highlight an important issue, one person is not usually enough to have a meaningful impact on advocacy work. Therefore, genealogy and historical societies are invaluable for getting the word out to their members, so that a broad base of the public can comment and support or oppose particular policy initiatives.
As has been pointed out by veteran lobbyists, when supporting or opposing a governmental policy, you need to take all the opportunities that are available for public comments. At the federal level opportunities to comment are published in the Federal Register, and local governments have similar processes. If no one comments when a new policy is proposed, future opportunities for comment and input may not present themselves.
When dozens, hundreds, or thousands of genealogists make their voices heard, it greatly increases the likelihood that our opinions will be considered when crafting the final policies.
Why is access to historical records important not just for genealogists, but for society as a whole?
While genealogists may be the ones who construct detailed personal histories for ancestors, many members of society have an interest in various historical eras, whether through biographies of historical figures, a PBS documentary, or a newspaper article explaining the history of a local ordinance. All of these are made possible through historical records.
The general public may not think about the mechanics of records preservation and access, but it still plays an important role. Archives desperately need resources to ensure that they can copy today's born-digital records*, so that we're not left with significant gaps in the historical record, which will leave future generations with questions and no answers.
* Records that have been natively created in digital format, rather than digitized from paper records.
How have you seen advocacy change in your time, particularly regarding tactics and strategies?
Although the core of advocacy work remains the same, such as monitoring for proposed legislative changes and creating community responses, it's now easier to reach a much wider audience, primarily through social media. Proposed New York State and City and federal changes that affect the genealogy community receive hundreds of public comments or more.
There's also more recently been a realization among genealogy organizations that the genealogy community must make itself known to legislators at both the state and federal levels. Although relationship building takes time, it is critical so that when a records access or preservation issue arises there is already a foundational understanding by legislators and their staff of the importance of such issues.
What changes would you most like to see in the next 5–10 years?
Just like money has been raised to preserve important document collections, the genealogy community should also undertake fundraising to lobby for change that will improve records access, despite its difficulties.
As an example, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), was a key resource for genealogists for decades, with frequent updates—but timely access ended in 2014. Lobbying by state vital statistic registrars resulted in no public access to the SSDI for three years after a death is reported, and more importantly, limited access to many states’ death reports. This policy is enshrined in law, and it would require lobbying at the federal level to potentially alter it.
Restoration of access to more recent veteran claims files may similarly require legislative solutions. In addition, NARA has long been underfunded, and its budget should be doubled for it to accomplish its full mission.
All of these initiatives require more funding, so the concerns of genealogists and historians can be heard.
Give us a word or phrase that defines your advocacy style:
Methodical.